Kate on Sex and Violence

Is there a link between sex and violence?

From the Dark Below I watch you!
From the Dark Below I watch you!

I wanted to find out if there was a link between sex and violence and what that might mean in terms of horror movies and books.

I am not talking about sex and violence in relationships, there are plenty of good sites that cover that sort of issue and that is not the purpose of my research. I am predominantly looking at the connection from the point of view of writing my book and how the connection may be used to enhance the story.

There is a theory and some evidence to suggest that the indicators for sex and violence are very similar in many species. The suggestion that whilst either sex or violence is the dominant feeling then the other won’t be felt but that the other can cease the first, exists in various documents.

So violence in a movie or book might make you feel violent but the following sex scene might then make you feel horny. A rollercoaster ride of feelings that can be easily switched between due to their similarities.  A violent film that has an erotic feel may make you accept the violence more easily but does it then follow that a sex scene which is not erotic but is definitely violent makes you feel violent? Or is it more a sort of repulsion?

I feel I may have become desensitized to other people’s opinions about what the results of watching a sexual/erotic slasher horror are, as they so often claim watching violent films does to people towards violence.

There are few films that make me feel violent and none of them are in the horror category, and there are fewer still that make me feel afraid (does that mean I’m desensitized or that the movies just aren’t living up to their hype?)

Nore do I watch a romance and think I had better book a trip to Paris so I can find my one true love!

I admit I have climbed into a number of wardrobes but I was playing hide and seek not looking for a lion and just because I touched the mirror it doesn’t mean I expected to go through it!

“Candyman, Candyman………”

Sex sells, everyone knows that, and so does horror and if you can get the two just right you can keep your reader or viewer enthralled in your work and eager to see more. Getting the right balance of violence to sex could be the hard part and making sure that all of that is relevant to the plot and not just there to sell copies is important I think.

On a related note……..

I am working on a short story that links to the main project and gives a little bit of backstory that won’t be in the actual book. I hope to have that finished by the end of this week and will publish it for free just to give you a taste of what is coming. I will put up a blog about it and hopefully will remember to add a link so you can download it. As I go through the editing process I may publish more backstory shorts but it will depend on whether or not they make it into the book.

I don’t know what I planned for next weeks blog as I have misplaced my trusty notebook, it may have been about female killers, or that could be later, whatever it is it will be related to my book and something to do with one of the main characters or themes.

Hope to see you next week, hope yours is a wicked one!

Kate xxx